Cops say they're trying to maintain order amid an influx of pedestrians in downtown LA, but city residents who like to walk say the policy is unbelievably strict.

One such resident, Adam Bialik, says he stepped off a curb soon after the crossing signal started its "Don't Walk" countdown. A cop greeted him on the other side with a $197 ticket. Tickets can reportedly soar to $250, though. More from The Times:

It is not quite "Dragnet," but the Police Department in recent weeks has issued dozens of tickets to workers, shoppers and tourists for illegally crossing the street in downtown Los Angeles. And the crackdown is raising questions about whether the authorities are taking sides with the long-dominant automobile here at the very time when a pedestrian culture is taking off, fueled by the burst of new offices, condominiums, hotels and restaurants rising in downtown Los Angeles.

Visitors from East Coast cities like New York might find the LAPD's crackdown to be a particularly rude awakening.

Jaywalking is a way of life in the Big Apple. Even outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg has admitted that the city's cops aren't likely to hand out tickets for jaywalking and "the public won't stand for it" anyway, Politicker reported.